Recent developments in the advertising sector have raised concerns about the industry’s stability. Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall has delivered a downbeat assessment, contributing to a decline in stocks of major advertising agencies. In response to this outlook, Cahall has downgraded his ratings for Omnicom Group, Interpublic Group, and Stagwell.
Cahall’s revised ratings see Omnicom’s stock-price target drop to $88 from $109, while IPG’s falls to $33 from $43. Similarly, his forecast for Stagwell has been reduced to $8 from $9. As a result, investors have witnessed IPG’s shares fall by 2.3% to $32.13 and Stagwell’s decline by 12% to $6.88. Omnicom has also experienced a 1% decline, with shares valued at $82.95.
Cahall’s analysis suggests that the agency business is heading towards a downcycle due to various factors, including lower/slower onboarding of new clients and deferrals and cancellations of existing business. Referring to TV upfronts, Cahall points out that they indicate a market-wide decline in activity.
Growth in the ad agency sector appears to be slowing, as evidenced by recent comments from Omnicom and Interpubic. These revelations have surprised investors, considering prevailing economic forecasts favoring a soft landing rather than a hard one. Moreover, overall ad spend is stabilizing and may even be showing signs of recovery.
In the past four trading days, Omnicom shares have experienced a nearly 15% decline due to slightly disappointing second-quarter financial results. Interestingly, Cahall notes that ad agencies actually outperformed ad spending in the latter half of 2022. He theorizes that during budget cuts, brands relied heavily on agencies to manage the process, enabling them to focus on higher ROI advertising in a declining spend environment.
However, Cahall suggests that as the industry faces an ad recession, marketers have shifted their approach. Although they maintained steady spending on paid media, they have reduced their budget allocation of “10%+” that goes to agencies.
It remains to be seen how the advertising sector will navigate these challenges, but the current economic stress indicates a potential slowdown in the industry’s growth.
